2018
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Emperor Xi a mandate of heaven
Xi Jingping seems to be creating heaven on earth, making China a powerhouse in geopolitics, restoring the glory of China since the infamous ‘hundreds years of shame’ in the 19th century.
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Maya and Myth
First City Magazine, New Delhi, July 2001. “Sex and violence are fundamentals of life. They rotate the cycle of life. Without sex, there is no life. There is violence every time we eat-when a fruit is plucked, a crop is…
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How Call me By Your Name reclaims Eden for gay people everywhere
Luca Guadagnino’s Oscar-nominated Call Me By Your Name, with brilliant use of narrative, visuals and music.
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Demon Poets
It is fascinating to learn that until the Mughals painted Hindu mythology on orders of Akbar in the 16th century, demons of Puranas were never shown as having dark complexion.
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Who is a Hindu? Economics of being Hindu
The Lingayats socio-cultural demand to be classified as different from Hindus throws up many interesting questions.
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Transgenders in Buddhism
After attaining Buddha-hood, the Buddha went to meet his mother in heaven, and share his wisdom with her. In many retellings, in her new life in heaven, Buddha’s mother is a god with a male body, for she had earned…
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The Hindu concept of debt
This idea of a karmic balance sheet is not found in the Vedic period but emerges in the Upanishadic period, especially after the rise of monastic orders.
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The hymns of the first Hindus
Beyond the codes, metaphors and allegories, the mantras of the Rig Veda reveal how the first Hindus engaged with the unknown.
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Descendants of Chitragupta
In one story, popular in the Gangetic plains, the god of death, Yama, wanted a scribe to help him keep a record of people’s karma. And so Brahma created Chitragupta (he who knows the secrets of diagrams i.e. scripts), who…
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Is tribalism better than casteism?
While people decry the lower rate of inter-caste marriages in India, they don’t decry the low rates of inter-tribe marriages in India. The former is seen as indicator of casteism but the latter is not seen as indicator of tribalism.
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A good leader is one who rules with a sense of detachment
A leader is appointed by the people, from the people, and for the people… However, his success depends on whether he is aligned to wisdom…
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Food is truth: What the Hindu gods are given to eat and why
Published on 19th July, 2016, on http://www.scroll.in . Why is anna, food, accorded so much importance in our culture? In Yoga-shastra, our body is called annakosha, that is, flesh formed from anna. Our flesh then becomes food for other animals.…
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Even the Gods played sport
We can safely say that sport in India began in both agricultural communities as well as martial communities.
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Who is a Hindu? Diversity unites, homogeneity divides
Unlike Westerners, Hindus have been comfortable seeing unity in diversity for thousands of years.
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Is Hinduism feminist or patriarchal?
In Hinduism, God is not a judge and so feminism is not about judging men.
